Raindrops
by TrinitySilph
Summary: Homecoming hadn't exactly been glorious ..... His father blamed him for the disappearance of all three kids.... He had convinced them to run away. He had always been the one looking beyond the horizon, seeking to get more out of their tiny world. -ONESHOT


All right! Finally got another KH fic out! xD

I can't seem to finish a longer one… but I'm working on it! I _will_ get one done eventually!

So anyway… this was one of those ideas you get when you're really, really bored. I just started writing and this is what came out. =3

It's emo-tastic and probably not very much like Riku-kun, but who knows? Maybe this is what happened when they returned from their grand adventure… I kinda hope not, though, drama queen though I am. xD

Enjoy, and don't forget to review! =D

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It was raining. Droplets fell from the heavens like angels' tears and he could hear it where he sat in the Secret Spot. The waterfall and pool were gorged today, flooded by never-ending rain, and the melody of a thousand raindrops cascading from skies of molten lead into the clear, earthbound water was peaceful.

It was just what he needed after nearly two years away from all he had ever known: after all, homecoming hadn't been exactly glorious. His mother had wept and clung to him as if she would never let go, his father blamed him for the disappearance of all three kids. It was his fault, he said. He had convinced them to run away. He had always been the one looking beyond the horizon, seeking to get more out of their tiny world.

A sigh penetrated his slack lips and the boy slipped down the wall to lay eagle spread on the cold stone floor. Still the rain pounded the world around him and he thought he could hear it getting stronger. A cold wind had definitely picked up and Riku turned his head to see the leaves around the entrance whipping around in the gusts.

"You don't know," he whispered to no one in particular. "You weren't there. Don't assume you know better than me just because you've lived a longer life. You weren't there… damn it…. You weren't there…"

He had seen more in the last two years than his parents would ever understand. He had done things he wasn't proud of, and redeemed himself by roaming alone through darkness. His soul was steeped in it, his heart consumed by it. Though he would like to forget it, he was still part of that black world that had created the Heartless, Nobodies, and of course his own personal curse, the Heartless of the man once called Xehanort. He was gone now, sent into blessed silence by Riku's inner strength and the victory of Light over Dark, restoring balance to the worlds.

The wind was getting stronger outside, the rain coming down with a brutal insistence. Riku watched the storm through a gap in the leaves, uncaring. _Let it storm, _he thought. _I don't care. I just want to be alone. Let it keep them away… let it keep them all away……_

The storm's power increased and worsened, clashing with the land as if it were a dark god. The skies, once silver, then like molten lead, darkened and blurred into unrecognizable masses of black storm clouds as the rain pounded the sands and grasses completely flat. Never before had Riku seen a storm like this on the islands that were his home, but he didn't care.

Lightning cracked over the seas and thunder boomed in the heavens, but he still didn't move. The howling of the wind, the raging of the stormy seas, the clashing of thunder and lightning… it was like the turbulence of his own soul.

Time passed and, still dry in the Secret Spot, if not warm, Riku finally rose to his feet and headed toward the door. A calmer soul might have remained in the little cave until the storm passed by, but he left the cool shelter behind without a second thought.

The instant he was beyond the leafy awning, he found himself drenched to the bone by pounding rain. His silvery hair was darkened to a deeper grey and plastered to his face as he looked skyward, squinting a little against the stinging water. He walked forward, down onto the beach, and stood there as the surf crashed onto the shore and over his shoes. He just stood there then, cold, alone, and not feeling any of it. He had expected to be glad to be home but… he wasn't. Not at all. He would have preferred to have seen a Heartless or Nobody upon arrival, he thought now, so that he could never have seen his parents and heard their blaming voices.

"And who needs me anyway?" He murmured, lips twisting gently into a sad smile. "All I seem to do is bring trouble with me, wherever I go."

The darkness in his soul trembled and he wanted to embrace it, to fall back into oblivion and never know anything ever again. That would be bliss compared to this torturous consciousness.

"Riku!"

The voice, familiar and warm, called to him over the waves. He barely heard it. He was falling backwards through space, reliving moments he had never thought to see again. He could see the sky and sea, then only the sky.

"Riku!"

The dreaming, the Heartless, the darkness, Maleficent, the search, the whispered voice, the greater darkness… Xehanort.

"RIKU!"

He hit the sand hard, knocking the breath from his body. Perhaps a powerful stray gust had knocked him over, or perhaps it was the waves, for they were tall enough and he had wandered blindly into their wake. Or maybe it was simply weakness from being out in the elements for long enough. Whatever the reason, he lay in silence on the beach now, eyes blurred from the rain, lost in memory.

Suddenly a face was shielding his from the rain, and terrified blue eyes were scanning his own for injury.

"Riku!" Sora cried once more, taking his friend by the shoulders and shaking him gently. "Riku! What are you doing out here??"

Riku smiled, but it was a sad one. "Dreaming," he replied softly, voice almost lost in the winds.

Sora sighed, unsure whether to be relieved or angry. Riku's eyes closed and he breathed deeply the storming air. "And wishing…. That I could be somewhere else."

"Why?" Sora asked desperately. "Why would you want to be elsewhere after… after everything we've been through?"

"Because home's not what I remember. And I can't stand…." His words trailed off and Sora sat back in the sand, letting the rain touch Riku's face once more even as it made the Keyblade Master's spiky hair fall limp.

There was a long pause.

"But that's what we're here for," Sora said softly. "Me and Kairi. We're your friends, and we're here to help you through all that stuff. Please, don't shut us out again… Not after all we went through to get you back."

Riku's head turned and he found that he could barely see Sora through the rain. Still, he could make out the tears on his best friend's face.

"Crying?" Riku asked, a hint of the old fire returning to his voice. "You? Come on, Sora, knock it off. We both know you're too upbeat for that kind of thing…."

Sora looked up sharply, surprised. Then, characteristic of 15 years, he wiped his eyes and grinned. "Come on," he said brightly. "Let's go home, okay?"

Riku closed his eyes and smiled. This time, the expression was true. There was no damaging the spirit of his friend, and it was that that now brought him back.

_How could I have been so blind? _He thought. _I felt so alone but… I'm never alone. Not really. Sora's always been here. And he's always been there for me. _

Rising shakily to weary feet, Riku stumbled, but found Sora there to catch him. _Just like always. _"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Let's go home."


End file.
